The passengers boarding was interrupted on the cruise ship Seabourn Encore in Picton, New Zealand after a strange gas smell was noticed by the Port Marlborough authorities.  At the quayside of Port Marlborough, staff at the refrigeration plant had detected an ammonia leak by one of the refrigeration units. The terminal was then closed for about an hour, as well as Seabourn Encore, which was in the immediate vicinity.

The fire brigade was on the ground with a rescue vehicle on the site because ammonia is a poisonous gas and exposure can lead to respiratory failure. The paramedics, however, were only on standby because the leak was rather minor and no-one was hurt. A cooling technician fixed the leak after about 20 minutes, and the port operation together with the check-in process continued in a safe environment.

The latest ultra-luxury Seabourn cruise ship is current16 Night New Zealand & Australia voyage. The vessel departed from Auckland, New Zealand on February 18, with stops in Tauranga, Napier, Wellington, Picton, Akaroa, Dunedin, Oban, Melbourne, Geelong, before returning to Sydney, Australia on March 06, 2017.

Earlier this month Seabourn Encore had an accident and was slightly damaged after the ship broke moorings and collided with another vessel docked in the port of Timaru, New Zealand. You can see a video of the cruise accident here.